THE man behind plans to redevelop three hotels in Sandbanks, including controversial proposals to turn the Haven Hotel into apartments, said the area “hasn’t got the hotel stock it deserves”.

Richard Carr is spearheading the development to replace the Sandbanks Hotel with a new 171-bedroom hotel, replace the Haven Hotel with three blocks of residential apartments and erect a 38-suite “aparthotel” on the site of the Harbour Heights Hotel.

However, residents have objected to their plans in their thousands, labelling them “soulless” and “out of character”.

Bournemouth Echo: Richard Carr

But Mr Carr, on behalf of FJB Hotels said they wanted to give Sandbanks a hotel stock it can be proud of.

He said: “The hotels are very old, very dated. Sandbanks Hotel will be a new 185-bedroom hotel, it’s the only hotel in the United Kingdom that sits on a blue flag beach which is really, really special.

“The Haven Hotel will be the neighbouring development, that will become 119 apartments. The Haven Hotel is not in a very good position for a hotel.

“There’s a lot of congestion on the peninsula, the hotel itself is structurally unsound, it probably only has ten years life left in it.

“I think the three buildings we’ve designed are without doubt iconic, give people in the hotels the facilities they expect.

“At the end of the day, we live on the most beautiful coastline in the United Kingdom and it deserves to have beautiful buildings with it.”

Mr Carr said if the plans were approved, the economic benefits would go on for “decades”.

He added that the current buildings are “damaging the environment” and the new buildings would take advantage of new green technology.

He continued: “The new hotels will have spas, gymnasiums, swimming pools, more restaurants, more bars, more facilities, which everybody in the conurbation will be able to enjoy.

“The public realm with the Haven Hotel at the minute is appalling. To get from the ferry to the beach you would have to climb over sea defences which are big boulders of rock, you wouldn’t allow your children to do that.

“Our plan is to create a footpath that will link Sandbanks Ferry to the beach which is the first time people would have ever been able to take that route and that will be accessible to all.

“Sandbanks once upon a time was very green, very sandy and over the years it’s been unfortunately tarmacked over.

“We are going to change that back to how it used to be, we are bringing back the character that was originally there.”